Have you heard of coronasomnia? We can thank the pandemic for producing this term as a new serious health issue. As if insufficient sleep wasn’t already a public health concern, it has just been elevated to a new scary level. Coronasomnia is most literally the insomnia a great deal of us are experiencing as a result of pandemic-induced stress and anxiety. We are educating and working from home, we’re devoid of family/friend interaction and we are worried about the health and safety of our loved ones. As a result, we just aren’t sleeping like we should. Not only does this lack of sleep elevate our blood pressure and increase depression, but it can also have a host of other health-related consequences including poor skin.
So, what can we doing to alleviate our own coronasomnia and that of our clients? The American Medical Association suggests six strategies, including: getting bright light, setting aside “worry time,” detaching from the news, use white noise, cut out alcohol and allow yourself to relax.1 It’s this last one that I want to focus on, because that is where we come in.
On Page 26 of this issue, Toshiana Baker pens an article about what skin care can do to promote better sleep. For starters, a good skin care regimen makes you look better, and when you look better you feel better. When you feel better about yourself, you sleep better. Facial massage associated with skin care helps us relax and reduces stress, which both help us sleep better. Finally, among other reasons, skin care helps reduce inflammation, which can also promote better sleep.
As Baker mentions, it is important for clients (and for us) to have a relaxing bedtime ritual that includes skin care for better sleep. For more on this, turn to Page 46 for an article by Martiza Rodriguez on fine-tuning a sleepytime skin care ritual. Since our skin regenerates itself at night, this ritual is mega important, in addition to its benefits for better sleep.
There is no magic bullet to better sleep. I wish there was, as I am experiencing coronasomnia like many of you. By the time this issue comes out, I hope we are rounding the corner on this pandemic and experiencing better sleep. Until that time and even after it occurs, it is important that we take steps to better sleep to be our best selves. Let’s do our part to keep coronasomnia in check.
Yours in Sleepness Nights,
Editor in Chief
kanderson@allured.com
